Time Is of The Essence
by LightningandDoc121
Summary: After the last racing season, and health issues abide, things get intense for the veteran stockcar and the rookie - All of Chick's chips are down on the table at this point. His career is slowly thinning due to his tactics - Will he be forced to retire or can he save what fire is still left?


**Disclaimer: **Disney/Pixar owns everything, all other characters belong to Areno, with permission of use.

**Author's Note: **It seems it's been years since I've been writing here (Maybe it's only been two - three, feels like ten). I noticed that many reviews (maybe called critique now?) on my past stories were complaining about clumped paragraphs, especially during a character's dialog; there were other minor points but this was main complaint I have worked on. I have taken on-line courses to fix/improve my writing skills.

This story should be much neater, more detailed and grammatically correct - However, the characters may be a bit iffy since I haven't really written about them (Or watched the movie for that matter) for a couple years now. I will try my best - If you like it, please rate and review. Also be sure to follow the story. I will try to update it as much as I can, but there may be delays.

It was a stormy afternoon at the Phoenix International Raceway, it was the third race of the new season and had been really hot through-out the summer. A few places weren't too bad - considering the weather conditions, but in southern or desert states, it was incredibly humid and the heat was enough to stall an engine. Finally, a storm had rolled in to break the heat to hopefully make racing much more comfortable, but the humidity still stayed heavily in the air.

It was certainly a hard smack to the hood when a car drove out in it, but many stayed in their garages. The rain had postponed the race for fear of hazardous track conditions, also known as "black ice" from the oil making a thin sheet on the track after a light rain shower. While this is exciting for the fans to watch, it's truly a nightmare for **any **race car and they don't dare go on the track early.

One stock car knew this all too well, he had had his fair share of wrecks and even crashes through-out his career; he had been dented and scratched - Nearly hospitalized too at times, but that never stopped him from racing, it just made him be much more careful on the track. Chick looked out the window from his garaged watching the water drip down as it rained, his positions had gone from decent to the worst - he was now the "underdog" of the pack.

Ever since he wrecked Strip Weathers in the final race of last season, he was not taken kindly to. The hotshot rookie had the upper tire - Instead of being second, the green stockcar was now either last or in 40th place; which is hard to move up from to first. He had to work harder than he used to, much harder, his engine had nearly stalled on the last race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway trying to get just in the top five. Any fans he might've had, if any, had turned against him for the rookie instead. He wasn't liked by anyone and was always steered cleared of.

He wondered if this race would be any different, luck wasn't in his favor so he thought, but it was better than what could've happened due to his reckless ways and determination to win it all. The green stockcar's eyes looked up at the monitor on the wall to see if the race was anywhere close to starting sometime soon - It wasn't. He saw an interview with the new Dinoco sponsor, this made him wince; more so at the fact he had no real chance now of them sealing the deal for him to be their sponsor. Some of his current sponsors had already left him due to his recklessness, but Chick didn't feel the need to change his tactics; in fact, that's what got him where he is now - His tactics are honest, but they have gotten him through his career, why would he turn away from that now?

The green stock car looked over at his team who was drinking oil and chatting among themselves, leaving him out as usual, but he didn't mind. The peace he got gave him time to focus and strategize how to get advantage in his new "back of the pack position".

Meanwhile in Garage 95, Lightning McQueen and his crew were busy; refilling gas cans, changing tires and making sure he was fully topped off for the race. His crew chief, the famed "Fabulous Hudson Hornet", was giving advice to his protégé - Doc was used to these types of tracks along with dirt, he knew the advantages (and disadvantages) of racing on _black ice, _but his rookie did not; he had only run on dry tracks and few times on dirt. This was a whole new concept and understandably, made him nervous.

"Now listen Kid", the Hudson Hornet calmly stated, "This track ain't gonna be easy - Racin' on a drizzled rain covered track is dangerous, but there are advantages. You can't go as fast as ya usually do, but you can still get the upper tire. Especially with the new rookies, they don't have experience..."

Even though Doc was calm about the whole "racing on black ice" situation, Lightning wasn't. He paced a bit restless within his garage, both from boredom and nervousness. He wondered how his crew chief's plan would work. The blue Hornet just sighed giving up, it was obvious he wasn't going to pay attention right now; he just hoped that mindset didn't stay during the race or Lightning could find himself in serious trouble. Either killed or severely injured, he couldn't be fast like he usually is which didn't set well with his protégé one bit.

After about three hours of waiting, the storm finally broke, but the sky was still cloudy. The racecars drove out of their garages after last minute tweaks. They soon made their way to the track with the paparazzi buzzing around them; something neither Lightning nor Doc truly appreciated but Chick, however, he relished every second of it. This was the only positive thing, he was the key-point for a good story. The green stockcar always gave them something to talk about, even on slow days like this one - That was _one _that didn't change from last season...


End file.
